Qfa 6

sarah37

Does anyone know where I could get some extra study notes or help to pass the QFA 6 exam? Already failed it once and I am really struggling!

Pigletlover

I don't know where you can get study notes, but can you get access to past exam questions? I found it really though, mainly because I wasn't sure of what I was expected to write on the day (sample questions were way off and there was no past exam questions available) and there was no tutorials held. Where are you studying for it? I think anyone studying for it in Dublin has access to tutorials, so if you can go to them at all do. I know they're so boring butif they help you pass then it's worth it.

biopsy

Pigletlover wrote: »

I think anyone studying for it in Dublin has access to tutorials, .

Anyone registered for seminars (rather than just a repeat exam) has access to QFA Financial Planning (correct name, not QFA6) seminars. They are being held in about 8 citys countrywide

Pigletlover

biopsy wrote: »

Anyone registered for seminars (rather than just a repeat exam) has access to QFA Financial Planning (correct name, not QFA6) seminars. They are being held in about 8 citys countrywide

Not when I did it, but maybe that's changed now.

rio1

Hi there,

Just wondering what you though of the exam last Saturday?

sungem

I found saturdays exam very very difficult!! Seemingly the institute are inundated with complaints today and we were told when we contacted them that an outside person may be brought in to examine the content of exam

rio1

Oh that such a relief to hear I am not the only one dissapointed over it. I spent weeks studying that book and when I saw the exam I was wondering why they charge for a study manule on QFA Financial Planning and then take all the questions from the previous modules..while question one was fine, the other two were horrific...I did mine through the LIA and called them this afternoon, they told me there had been no other complaints, but if I wanted to put my complaint in writing they would consider it, so I think I might do that.

sungem

You should do, I was given an e mail address to send complaint to and I think the more complaints there are..... I found exam same, q 1 fine and the other two.. disaster!

sarah37

I was the exact same. Question 1 was no problem but I didn’t stand a chance on questions 2 and 3. Its so nice to know I’m not the only one!!! I think I might be complaining too! They really were the most random questions, there is just no way to have been prepared for that.

Waynecarr

I too sat the exam on Saturday and found the exam unfair. Spoke to LIA and they say it is ''an issue'' and they are looking into it. They will not talk on the phone but are inviting emails on the matter. I have sent the following

---

Dear ******

I sat the QFA 6 exam on Saturday. My LIA number is ******* . I wish to register my disgust at the exam that was presented to me.

The rationale in completely changing the question selection criteria for this exam without informing us (your members who pay good money to be in this organisation) is completely unfair. Why did we all waste our time going to tutorials and studying a book that was not going to be examined apart from the chapter on case studies in relation to question 1.

I and I'm sure many other members who sat this exam am writing to demand that if something is not done about this and pass mark is not personally achieved I want a refund of my exam fees.

The person or persons who set this exam also need to be held accountable for wasting time most of us do not have in setting an exam that by previous standards, tutor guidance and sample papers provided on your website was not fair and reasonable. By wasting time I mean attending tutorials, evenings spent studying, taking holidays to study, attending exams on a bank holiday weekend.

The more I write this mail the more disgusted I am with the LIA. You have a duty to look after members interests and in this case you have failed miserably.

A prompt response to this and what you are doing about it is required.

Yours angrily

---

Obvioulsy the more of us that email them the better. The bit about the refund should help focus their minds.

rio1

Couldn't have said it better. Have you heard anything back on it yet?

Waynecarr

No not yet, but I will be following up on this if I dont get a reply. Have you contacted them yourself

rio1

Only by phone, but I am going to write them a letter and send it in to them this evening.

Drumpot

Thank god I am not the only one who nearly cried during and after the exam. Agree with everything said here. Q1 no probs, 2 and 3 ridiculous.

DOES ANYBODY ACTUALLY KNOW ANYBODY WHO THOUGHT THIS EXAM WAS FAIR????

Heres a draft of what I sent into them today:

I wish to register my disgust at what can only be described as an awful injustice that was served in the QFA 6 Financial Planning examination Paper on Saturday 3rd May 2008.

Question 1 was as planned (past papers and sample papers) and expected but question 2 & 3 were simply ridiculously difficult and ones which I felt made it near impossible to pass unless you had specific work experience in these small specific areas of financial planning . I had studied put extra emphasis on the sample papers and previous papers like many of my colleagues and my heart nearly stopped when I opened the paper and looked through the questions.

I understand that as financial advisors we are expected t o have a minimum understanding of our industry but that exam was particularly nasty in that it dealt with small specific questions that few would know in full for obvious reasons (in the rare occasions this information may be applicable).

I have spoken with other colleagues who feel similarly about this (wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone in how I felt about the exam) which leads me to believe even further that the paper itself was simply unfair. I am also aware that at least one insurance company is considering drafting up a petition complaining about this paper.

I would expect the LIA to offer some sort of compensation with this regard, namely a pass mark (as I don’t see why I should have to re-sit an exam I studied for because of negligence on the LIA’s part). Or perhaps they should mark the paper based on the first question (the only question that remotely resembled papers WE WERE ADVISED to study). The fact that it was an error on the LIA’s part shouldn’t mean that its members should have to pay, particularly by having to wait another few months to add QFA behind our name. I am working with my father since the start of the year, we have a small Life Assurance company and I need this qualification as soon as possible as any sale aid I have is vital (particularly in the current financial Climates).




I have already registered my disgust on your answering machine service (I assume I am not the only person complaining about this). I expect that you will take the appropriate action regarding looking after your members and disciplining whoever wrote the paper itself. I would expect a quick reply in relation to this topic as I know how important these exams are to your members and trust you will deal with this in the most efficient manner.

Yours Sincerely
________________

Mr. Bob

I completely agree with everything that has been said before. I knew the QFA 6 book back to front and went through the other books and took out what I taught would be relevant. But obviously whoever drew up the paper managed to find some material I hadn't memorised.

Seems to me its a case, you might never pass the bloody exam if they are setting people up for a fall by going through books 1 to 5 and picking maternial "they know" most people probably haven't memorised. It feels like a money making scam to be honest with papers like that. It certainly wasn't a paper to determine if someone was qualified to provide an individual with financial advice, and thats my big gripe with it. It wasn't relevant to financial advisers. I know a few active Qualified Financial advisers that walked out within an hour and a half and said the same, question 2 & 3 were a sham.

I'm sending in my complaint tomorrow and I recommend anyone reading this thread to do so aswell or else we will all have to shed out some more money, because I have to pay a fee if I fail an exam with my employer. So it is costing people money and not just the companies!!!

Stuck

Hi all
I sat exam on Saturday as well. I thought it was an absolute disgrace, q2 & q3. again knew the Financial planning book from front to back, and studied all the past papers from January 07 - January 08. I to am about to email the LIA on this, am repeating the Investment exam this Saturday but to be honest if I had passed it last February there was no way of predicting where the got q2 & q3 from??
What a complete waste of time and money, and also people have take holiday's from work to prepare for these exams If nothing is done I cannot repeat untill next January as I away this September.. am really annoyed, wonder will anything be done on this?

sungem

I have spoken to a number of colleagues over the North West and everyone that I spoke to thought the same thing of exam. I have advised anyone I have been speaking to, to put complaint in writing/ email to either institute of bankers or lia as i think the more complaints received they will have to act on them..................

Waynecarr

I wrote to the lecturer who gave us our tutorials whose name I will not mention. Suffice to say the opinion of the lecturer was the same as us, which was shock.
I understand the lecturer's unhappiness has been registered with the LIA and IOB in no uncertain terms and plans are in place for having meetings with them next week and until then the lecturer would refrain from saying anymore.

Its also worth noting that a quick glance over the last 4 Financial Planning exams will show you that 90-100% of all answers could be found in the QFA6 book.
For this exam it was 33%.

Anyone who has not registered there upset at this exam should do so.

rio1

Well I have sent in my complaint as well now. Has anyone actually heard anything back from either the Institute of Bankers or the LIA?

Drumpot

I phoned (left message), emailed and wrote in a letter all for good measure. Wonder what they will do, I dont think we should have to resit the exam but the least they should do is add more/most weight of the results on Q1.

Its funny that it was mentioned that only a third of the exam was in the book as straight after the exam I went through the book to see if I had missed something and wanted to mark off what I wrote referring to the book. Couldnt find much!!!

Waynecarr

Got a reply from LIA...Not promising.

---

Many thanks for your email regarding the recent QFA Financial Planning examination. Our examination guide for Financial Planning clearly states that this module examines knowledge and comprehension of the content of all of the current QFA Modules i.e. QFA Life Assurance, QFA Pensions, QFA Investment, QFA Loans, QFA Regulation and QFA Financial Planning. This guide is available to all students via the “Your LIA” section of the LIA website.

However we have noted your feedback and comments and have forwarded them to the Examiner. I will contact you again when we have feedback from the correction process, which will take about six weeks.

Mr. Bob

Hi,

Got the exact same reply. There just putting us on hold until they have some sort of feedback. I presume whoever is marking the exam will inform the LIA etc as to how many people could acutally answer question 2 & 3 and whether or not they are problematic for everyone. If it turns out they are, who knows what they will do.

However, if they come back and say "Tough", and do nothing about it. Who's to say the next exam won't be more of the same. Nit-picking some little bit of information from one of the books and awarding big marks for the answers. This could be an exam you will have to do a few times before you pass depending on the paper.

I'm sure the LIA will make quite a bit of money with so many people having to repeat the exam (I'm assuming a lot will fail because of questions 2 & 3).

Stuck

Hi
I to got the same reply, it will take 6 weeks thats when the results are posted!! wonder if I should complain directly to the QFA Board or just through the LIA? this really is a joke :mad:

Drumpot

Got the same reply and replied myself:

Hi x,

Thanks for your quick reply. I appreciate that this will be looked at appropriately. Please don’t take any of what I say personally, I am just so disgusted with how that exam went.

I thought that the LIA might take this stance which to a degree isn’t surprising (as the 6th exam is supposed to be based on bits from all other exams) but what is upsetting people the most is that this exam was totally different from all previous exams of this kind. I wanted to point out a few things that seem to get to the point of most people’s anger:


· How can people prepare for an exam that’s nothing like the sample papers that we are given by the examining body? (what’s the point in using sample and previous papers as a study aid if they are only relating to a third of the paper?)

· How is this called a FINANCIAL PLANNING exam when it focused more on specifics of certain areas of financial services with question 1 being the only one relating to financial planning that’s covered in the QFA 6 books? If I had never read the QFA 6 book I would probably have had a better chance of passing the exam than by learning the book from back to front.

· We were previously quizzed on small specifics of financial services (QFA 1-5). Shouldn’t the financial planning exam be more about how we piece the information together rather than knowing the smaller, finer points of financial information. This exam wasn’t an assessment on our ability to give financial advice (Q1 aside), more on our knowledge of the previous exams.

· A fellow member of the LIA pointed out that a quick glance over the last 4 Financial Planning exams showed that 90-100% of all answers could be found in the QFA6 book.
For this exam it was 33%. How does the LIA justify changing the boundaries of the exam so radically without first giving some form of notice to its members?


Ask even the most experienced solicitor the laws attached to random pieces of legislation; they wouldn’t know it all off the top of their head, but you would expect them to have a knowledge of the most used laws or regulation. The same should be said of financial advisors, while we should always strive to know as much about our industry as possible, the pieces of information asked in this exam will seldom be a general requirement of somebody doing business on a day to day basis and even if it is required, good financial advisors will have already done their homework before meeting clients to the specifics of what products may be beneficial to them (and the information that would be most helpful to their financial review).

While the LIA may hide behind the old “exam will include excerpts from all QFA modules”, they have really let their members down in this exam. Even if they had given an indication that this paper would be significantly different from the other exams, people may of been able to better prepare. This exam appears to be more about catching out its members, as there is no other reason why the paper was so preposterously different from previous ones.

Yours very disappointed and disillusioned

Waynecarr

Here was my reply. The more the ignore our concerns the more annoyed you get...

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it is totally unsatisfactory.

A cursory glance of the last 4 QFA Financial Planning exam papers will show you that 90-100% of the answers came from the Financial Planning book. Why would we assume anything different if this was not flagged to us by our organization or lecturers who we pay good money to look after our interests. Please please do not anger people even more by trying and hide behind the rules and conditions as they appear never to have been implemented for previous exams. It is a weak and cynical defence to an obvious blunder on the LIA’s part

I know that lectures and students up and down the country were as shocked as myself with the paper and will not stand for the LIA abandoning its members on this issue.

Do please remember you are supposed to be on our side!!!!!!! I would sincerely advise the LIA to become more proactive on this matter and wake up to the disquiet that is out there around this.

To now tell us we have to wait 6 weeks for feedback is disgraceful. What kind of further feedback do you intend to provide. An immediate meeting of all involved on your end is needed to resolve this matter.

To also send out this standard reply to all concerned and not answer questions raised in my original mail is not appreciated either. An answer to those questions and points raised by myself, a paying member of the LIA would be appreciated

Yours unhappily

Drumpot

Got this reply today, suppose its fair enough

In order to respond as accurately as possible to your queries, we need to establish the factual position in a systematic way. We are currently in the process of doing this and a key input is student performance on the paper. Our objective is to ensure that, based on the facts, students will not be disadvantaged. We will have feedback once we have collected and analysed all the facts and I will be in contact with you again at that point.

Waynecarr

Got the same myself yesterday

In order to respond as accurately as possible on your queries raised, we need to establish the factual position in a systematic way. We are currently in the process of doing this and a key input is student performance on the paper. Our objective is to ensure that, based on the facts, students will not be disadvantaged. We will have feedback once we have collected and analysed all the facts and I will be in contact with you at that point with answers to your questions.

Waynecarr

Got the following update from LIA

Following your email of 9th May 2008, I am emailing to inform you that we expect to be in a position to issue the results of the May QFA Financial Planning Examination on Monday, 23rd June 2008. These will be available on the “Your LIA” section of the website. We received significant feedback from students in relation to the examination paper – particularly regarding the change in the balance of questions drawn from the Financial Planning manual and other manuals.

I want to assure you that we intend to ensure that no candidate will be disadvantaged. To this end, we are reviewing the results carefully on a student by student and question by question basis to take the impact of the change into account.

sungem

Thanks a million for the update, contacted IOB myself today and they told me that results would be out in approx 2 weeks....... wonder how they are going to mark papers??

Waynecarr

Will be interesting to see allright.. Will update if I hear anymore

Heybabyy

I gave my first QFA in early May 08 and the exam was a bit of surprise to me. IMO, to pass the exam it requires cramming the fine details in book as opposed to conceptual learning. I also heard stories about financial planning exams which was out of expectations.

When I saw the answer sheet saying that it will be checked by computer (fill black circles etc). , I was under impression that results must be out fairly soon - say 1/2 week. But later when I enquired, I was shocked to hear from Institute of bankers(IOB) that they take good 6-8 weeks to declare the results. This is absolutely ridiculous. There were barely few hundred people giving the exam. How the hell they can take so long to do simple stuff that too when it is computerised. I think they are living in 15th century. Even if they check the results manually, it shouldn't take that long.

Also to add onto that, I looked on LIA website, and yes they have declared the result for the same exam. This means that I would have been better off giving QFA thru LIA rather than IOB, when the fees etc are all same.

I spoke to IOB and they are still saying same bull**** of 6-8 weeks. I hope I fail the exam and re-register with LIA for next attempt rather than continue dealing with IoB.

insurancehead

Hi all,

Just catching up on this and I will add my rant to this. I felt I studied fairly hard on this (like alot of people I got to know at the tutorials which may make the results (i fear) harder to take and try and motivate to re-sit. I have been on hols for a few weeks so only sent in my feedback this am...I am not sure what the resolution will be here as I feel alot of us are in the same boat going by this forum and the reaction of people in the IMI on the day...people were noticibly in shock, I thought....anyhow we will see how it goes, results due next Monday...any other updates from anyone......

Heybabyy

I spoke to one friend and he says the reason for delaying the result is "money making business" by intentionally creating circumstances for candidate to fail the exam. It works like this way - unless you know the result of previous exams, you are not going to register for new ones/resits. If they declare the result by end June, it will be first week of july the time you register for resit/new exams. Add another 8-10 days to get course material. The exams are held in first fortnight of September. This will give you only 6 weeks to prepare for the new exams and chances are that you will fail again.

I know the what the way around is :):D........

insurancehead

hey baybyy....please do tell;):cool::D

black8

Heybabyy did you ever think that maybe your friend is an idiot? You really should be trying to pass these exams first time and not be waiting for results to find out how much the resits are goin to cost you. And you have to do all 6 in the end anyway so it doesnt really matter what order you do them in, besides the last one, so you should just apply to do the exams you want in September well before you get the results from the exams in May.

Heybabyy

Appreciate your intelligence and agree that in the end one has to pass in all. But unfortunately the resit are done on same day as other exams.

This means if you book a new one and unluckily fail in other one (but discovered that after you have already booked a new one due to late arrival of results) - it could be a mess giving 2 exams on same day.

For example if I book today the module "Investment" with exam due on 13th Sept (PM) and 2 weeks from now the result says that I failed in "Loans", the resit of Loans fall on 13th Sept (AM) as well.

The issue here is that delaying the results give lesser time
- to individuals to prepare for resits.
- to decide which ones to book.

The exams are not difficult but they just require a bit of cramming the whole book word by word like a school kid.
Don't know why people take 2 years to clear them.

Why the IOB can't just organise the test in prometric centres and one may give whenever one wants (and get result straightaway). This is the way most top level certifications are done. But yes, the way QFA is organised is typical Irish - computerised way of checking answer sheets and still taking 6-8 weeks for results, absolutely ridiculous........:mad:

Mr. Bob

Well, we will all find out Monday what sort of resolution the LIA etc come up with. But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Chances are, most people won't be happy with what they have to say.

I wonder though, will they come back with a group resolution i.e. everybody can sit it again at no charge etc, or on an individual basis. So far, everything has been done on a group wide basis. Same e-mails to everyone and so on.

There probably just gonna come back and say well, we reviewed your result and took into account Question 2 & 3 and unfortuneatly you still failed!

Lets hope the LIA stands up for their members and that being a member is not just for the books and so on. Lets hope they flex a bit of muscle and show what their made off!! As I said earlier, don't hold your breath!!!!!!

insurancehead

yeah ...monday could be interesting...while I have little sympathy for the LIA as they consistently seem to get things wrong....massive delays in issuing books...invoicing confusions....anyhow...they have got themselves into a right mess with the Fin Planning and if people do not pass and I fear many of us will not and based on the numbers in Griffith College in May there are many hundreds from all the sits across the country in the same boat for Monday...there will be fun and games!!!!! and not the good type!!!!!:eek::eek::eek:

C-Bear

Hey folks..... Have been following your comments about the exam. Good luck to everyone tomorrow. Please god the LIA have the good sense to mark these papers fairly or I feel they will have a riot on their hands.

The last I heard was from one of the correctors who is a broker. He had corrected 60 papers when I spoke to him and not one person had passed. I am pressuming because of the low pass rates that they would have to change the structure so we might have a miracle yet :eek:

Anyway keep up the PMA (positive mental attitude and all that !!)

Best of luck and let us know how you all get on

xxx

C-Bear

P.s.....

Does anyone know what time they are releasing the results tomorrow?
Apparently they post them on the web site now instead of mailing them out.

Thanks........

insurancehead

............not a very promising statistic 0 out of 60.........good luck to everyone tomorrow.......... and do not take this personally but I hope I do not see you all in Sept!!!!!:D:D:D..no idea when out tomorrow...yep i believe it will be on LIA website.....

Hester

Good luck to everyone getting results tomorrow :eek:

C-Bear - I was able to get previous results on the website first thing when I got into work, so around 9-9.30. Hopefully will be the same tomorrow, they've kept us waiting long enough!

insurancehead

....the results are through on the website......:cool:

Waynecarr

Got my results, passed with a very high mark ??? I suspect they are only using the first question. I'll not complain anymore though

C-Bear

Hey..... Me too, passed with a very high mark.....

I had to check it again and again cos i thought i was seeing things!!

How did everyone else get on?

sungem

Happy Days..... Passed too! Again a high mark, must have been marked on question one... but hey who is complaining!!!! :)

Hester

I passed too! Such a relief, I was sure I'd be repeating in Sept.

compsys

This topic is so old I know but I was wondering what anyone thought of today's exam. Also, what's the pass rate for QFA Financial Planning? Should really know that I know!

jellylegz

compsys wrote: »

This topic is so old I know but I was wondering what anyone thought of today's exam. Also, what's the pass rate for QFA Financial Planning? Should really know that I know!

Hi Compsys
I didnt think it was too bad compared to past papers, very surprised there was no calculation question or nothing really asked about pensions. The pass mark is now 50%, it was reduced from 60% from 2010 onwards. Really hope I pass, would hate to have to face into it again!! I think the results take 6-8 weeks

compsys

jellylegz wrote: »

Hi Compsys
I didnt think it was too bad compared to past papers, very surprised there was no calculation question or nothing really asked about pensions. The pass mark is now 50%, it was reduced from 60% from 2010 onwards. Really hope I pass, would hate to have to face into it again!! I think the results take 6-8 weeks

Yeah, it was only after I'd finished the exam and arrived home that I thought, 'did I even use a calculator or have to figure out a single sum for that exam'? Couldn't believe it. Seems very strange.

I thought that the exam seemed pretty fair compared to other years as well. I think they've moved away from asking very specific questions on pension and taxation rates, formulae and rules etc, to asking more general questions that try to get students to show their understanding and concept of the overall financial planning process. That still doesn't mean I was able to answer all of the questions though! For the written exam I really think they should provide at least a small bit of choice for students.

I still thought the pass mark was 60%. 50% actually seems quite fair. I knew they'd reduced the pass mark for the other QFAs, but that was because they'd also brought in negative marking at the same time. But 50%? If I didn't at least scrape 50% I think I'd be quite surprised...

jellylegz

Yea it's definitely 50%. Our lecturer at the seminars told us that they had to change the pass mark for all QFA exams to 50% because UCD now award the diploma and the pass mark for exams in UCD is 50% so LIA/IOB had to reduce the pass mark in line with this. He also told us that he marks papers & they havn't been told that there's any change in the marking scheme for financial planning unlike the MCQ exams, where they brought in negative marking.